Kidney disease drug developer Nephrogenex could go public this week, thus joining several Triangle firms that have executed IPOs over the past year.

Square 1 Bank and Argos Therapeutics also are in the IPO queue.

The region’s IPO list of firms located in the Triangle or with substantial operations in the region for 2013 was impressive:

  • LipoScience, $75 million
  • Chimerix, $107 million
  • Intrexon, $160 million
  • Heat Biologics, $26 million
  • Regado Bioscience, $43 million
  • ChannelAdvisor, $80 million
  • CommScope, $577 million
  • Aerie, $68 million
  • Quintiles, nearly $1 billion

Nephrogenex plans to offer 3.1 million shares in its IPO, priced in the range of $12 to $14 per share, according to an updated registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

No effective date was set for the IPO but IPO research firm Renaissance Capital has the RTP company on its calendar for IPOs this week.

At the $13 midpoint of the offering, Nephrogenex would raise $40.3 million, which the company says it will use to finance late-stage clinical trials of its lead drug candidate, a diabetic neuropathy treatment.

Aegis Capital Corp. is the sole book-running manager for the stock offering. The underwriter has been granted an over-allotment option to purchase up to 465,000 shares at the IPO price. The company expects IPO net proceeds of $35.9 million, or $41.4 million if the overallotment option is exercised in full.

Nephrogenex said in its latest filing that it expects to implement a 1 for 6.5 reverse stock split of its outstanding common stock just before the effective date of the stock offering. That means every 6.5 shares of common stock will be decreased to a single share of common stock. While the reverse stock split does not change a company’s valuation, it does change the value of each share.

Companies sometimes do reverse stock splits prior to an IPO to boost the price of each share and make the stock more attractive to potential investors.

Nephrogenex’s lead drug candidate, Pyridorin, was developed to slow the progression of diabetic neuropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes. Diabetic neuropathy is a chronic, degenerative condition of the kidney. The condition affects 6 million patients in the United States, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Diabetic neuropathy can progress to end-stage renal failure, requiring dialysis.

In some circumstances it can lead to death. Nephrogenex said it has already reached agreement with the Food and Drug Administration on the study goals for the phase III clinical trial of Pyridorin.

Nephrogenex has applied to list its shares on the Nasdaq exchange, trading under the symbol “NRX.”